2nd Entry of 2010 Spring Training Trip

This story started during my 2010 Spring Training Junket to Florida and ended 17 days later in Tennessee. Enjoy!

 

The empty mailbox streak of 7 days has ended in a BIG way! Today, the mailbox had a super surprise waiting for me. It was an envelope from Tony Oliva of the Minnesota Twins post marked from Fort Myers, Florida, the spring training home of the team. Enclosed in the envelope were several items including this card for my 1967 Topps Autographed Baseball card set. It is the Twins Team card, number 211 in the 1967 Topps set of 609 cards. It has been signed by Tony Oliva and Rod Carew!

There is a long story behind this autograph card. The story begins during my Spring Training trip three weeks ago to Florida. On March 4, my friend Jim and I visited Fort Myers to see the Twins practice and then saw the Twins and Boston Red Sox play a game that night. Knowing that Tony Oliva was a member of the Twins front office, I had brought his 1967 Topps card, #50 just in case I ran into him. During the day, we waited for the players and coaches to arrive and we noticed that Tony Oliva and Rod Carew had driven to the ballpark together. They drove past the autograph collectors without signing any cards. I guess that was strike one. As the practice progressed, Mr. Oliva was instructing several Twins players in the batting cages along with Rod Carew. After a break in the practice, I asked Tony Oliva if he would be willing to sign my card for my collection.

He refused and said he was working. Strike two. Undeterred, I continued to follow Tony during the practice and at one point he saw me standing alone as he came out of the clubhouse and I asked if he would sign me card. Again, he refused and went back to work. I guess that was a foul ball, no third strike yet. As the practice started to wind down and the players and coaches started the leave the field, Tony was called over by a couple of fans and he started to sign some autographs. As he was signing the autographs, I asked if he would sign my card for my collection. He passed me over a couple of times, but I did not give up. Finally, he took my card and signed it with a blue sharpie that I provided. Persistence paid off.

I thanked Tony Oliva for the autograph, shook his hand and asked if he would take a picture with me and he obliged. That would have been a great story in itself, but it did not end there. After I arrived home, I decided to write Tony a letter apologizing for being so persistent in pursuit of his autograph. Enclosed with the letter, I included two 8x10s of the picture of me and Tony Oliva, two more 1967 Topps cards, the Twins Team card above and the 1966 American League Batting Leaders card, #239, and a gift card to Outback Steakhouse. I asked if he could sign one of the 8x10s and keep the other and asked he if could sign the Batting Leaders card, already signed by Hall of Famer Al Kaline and the Twins Team card. I also asked if he could have Hall of Famer Rod Carew sign the team card as well. I mailed the envelope on March 10, 2010 and received it back 12 days later with both photos signed and both cards signed. Even Rod Carew signed the team card. Thank you very much, Mr Oliva and Mr. Carew!

Tony Oliva's career lasted 15 seasons in major league baseball, all with the Minnesota Twins. He started his career in 1964, winning the American League Rookie of the Year award and named to the American League All-star for the first of eight consecutive seasons. He ended his playing days in 1978 with a career .304 batting average, 220 home runs and 947 runs batted in, 329 doubles and a total of 1917 hits in 1676 games. Tony's eight consecutive All-Star appearances to start his career broke the previous record set by Hall of Famer Joe Dimaggio of the New York Yankees. Tony Oliva won 3 batting titles during his career, 1964, 1965 and 1971 and won a Gold Glove award in 1966. The latter part of his career was hampered by injuries and there has been much debate about his place in baseball history. Considered one of the best players not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Tony Oliva deserves his place in Cooperstown.

To learn more about Tony Oliva and his career, go to his biography at wikipedia.org.
 

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2010 Florida Spring Training Junket Part I

 The 2010 Florida Baseball Spring Training Junket is underway. So far since Saturday, we have seen three ballparks, watched a college baseball game, driven from Clearwater to Tampa and onto Jupiter, first stopping in Daytona Beach for dinner with my children, and watched two practices while attempting to get autographs from the players.

 The trip started in Clearwater, home of the Philadelphia Phillies Training Facility. We arrived at the tail end of the practice day and watched players like Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Jayson Werth drive by as they were leaving the facility. Unable to get them to stop, we were unsuccessful with the autographs from the Phillies. As the practices were over for the day, the ballpark still was not empty. A game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Notre Dame Fighting Irish was starting and we decided to stay and watch some college baseball. Baseball is baseball and we are baseball fans.

As we entered the ballpark, we decided to sit right behind home plate and it just happened that the scouts for about all 30 Major League Teams were sitting down also. Equipped with the tools of their trade, the Radar Guns, stop watches, note pads with their special cards to evaluate the players, and a camaraderie amongst themselves that was humorous and full of digs at each other. During the half innings, I would have a chance to talk to a couple of guys and they genuinely had a love for the game and enjoyed being part of the game. From the scout who was starting his first season to the 19 year veteran who had discovered several players who made it to the majors, it was great to hear their insight and knowledge of the game.


As we were leaving, a good friend of mine and minor league pitcher for the Phillies, Nick Hernandez sent me a message stating he was watching the game also. After a couple of minutes, we found Nick and spent the next hour talking baseball from his perspective as a prospect in the farm system. Nick spent the 2009 season in Short Season Rookie Ball with the Williamsport Crosscutters and put up some very impressive stats, 8 wins versus 1 loss, a 2.70 earned run average and 67 strikeouts in 80 innings. He is hopeful that he can continue to improve and impress the Phillies front office and advance to the major leagues one day. Nick, we all wish you the best of luck and we will be following your progress.


That put an end to the first day and gave us a taste of what would come next. Sunday morning came around and our destination was Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Spring Training home of the 2009 World Series Champion New York Yankees. Arriving at 8am, we wanted to secure a location for seeking autographs. We found the place that was recommended to us by a friend and we were the 2nd and 3rd person to show up.

We staked our claims and began the process of waiting for the players and coaches to arrive and begin practicing, which did not start until 11:30am. The players did arrive on schedule and we saw several of the more famous Yankees such as CC Sabathia, Jorge Posada, Curtis Granderson, and Mariano Rivera as well as some old-timers like Yogi Berra and Reggie Jackson. All of them walked by or near where we were standing and continued on without stopping for the autograph requests by the fans. As the practices came to an end around 1:30pm, yes 5 1/2 hours of standing waiting for a chance for an autograph and feeling as if we could get shut out for the day, a player decided to stop and sign a few items. This player was gracious enough to sign for about 50 people out of the crowd and he could have signed all night long due to his notoriety. He has played his entire career with the Yankees and during that time has won 4 World Series Championships, played on numerous All-Star teams and some day after he retires, he will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In fact, his number 2 should be retired and be included in the Yankees Monument Park. Of course, the player I am referring to is Derek Jeter, shortstop of the Yankees. When the opportunity came my way, I asked Derek to please sign a 1999 issue of Sports Illustrated and he obliged my request and autographed the magazine with a beautiful blue sharpie signature. Way to go and many thanks, Derek. You made the waiting all worth it. This will stay in my collection and will not be for sale, sorry.

We left the ballpark a short time later after watching Reggie Jackson and other coaches teaching bunting skills to some rookie players. How ironic is that, a Hall of Famer with 563 home runs and probably was never asked to bunt his entire career teaching these youngsters how to catch the ball with the bat and place it in the right spot on the field to move a runner around the bases. That skill will help the Yankees win a game sometime during the season and make a difference how the season unfolds. Baseball, what a wonderful game! 

Continue to check back and look for Part II of the 2010 Spring Training Junket.


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